Naked babies/toddlers on the beach???

Perhaps I am way over protective but to me letting babies/toddlers run around on a packed beach completely starkers, is just wrong.

I went to Margate on Saturday with my two boys aged 3 and 6 and my husband, they both had UV sunsuits on and were not allowed out of sight. We were sat with one family on to the left with two children who kept running behind their wind break, completely nude. I was telling DH and said it is just wrong (In my opinion) then he shushed me as the family to the right had 4 young children ALL naked... sand EVERYWHERE!

Then to top it off the family in front had one little child, who must have been no older than 2, roaming about again naked... with no one watching!!! The parents had a tent thing and this child was behind the tent, in front of us just walking off. I kept my eye on him and made sure he didn't go out of sight... But surely that is his parents job... and the fact he was NAKED... Just felt so wrong.

Now I am a CM and love seeing children playing and watching them... but I felt so uncomfortable and had to keep looking away...

When my in laws were on holiday they saw a man being chased across the beach by a few other men, they caught him and smashed a camera... turns out he was taking inappropriate photos of children. I just cannot believe parents can be so naive, it would have been way too easy for a scumbag to take pictures.

no i totally agree with you. my DS has a UV suit, if he has to get into it on the beach i make him stand behind a towel, maybe it is being over protective but with so many sick people out there sometimes you have to be. And i know how anoying it is parents not watching their kids, we live at the seaside and i am put off going to the beach by parents letting their kids do want they want throwing sand etc, and always happens you set up in a nice spot, then a family set up next to you drinking, smoking, and swearing

I have let my dd who is 3 run around a beach in just her knickers when we have been caught out i.e we were not planning on going to the beach but then stopped there because it is so nice. I wouldn't let her do it for to long due to the risk of sunburn (although I do ensure I always have sunlotion in the car for such times). In terms of dodgy people taking photo's I would keep an eye out but I am not going to let them ruin my dd innocent fun by not letting her be a child.

I personally wouldnt let my son go naked because I believe privates at just that private, however I wouldn't care if other family's let their children do that. I think I would be more worried were sand could get rather than paedophiles, intact I rarely think about paedophiles, I can't live m live in fear. I would have been more worried about the fact the parents could actually see the toddlers, I'm sure it would take long for a kid to run off towards the sea.

totally agree...also agree on being concerned about their skin...also can't stand mothers posting naked pictures of their children on facebook. I know i'm overprotective and there are things that are completely out of my control but I don't see the reason to give anyone any advantage in the sake of my children!

I have let my dd who is 3 run around a beach in just her knickers when we have been caught out i.e we were not planning on going to the beach but then stopped there because it is so nice. I wouldn't let her do it for to long due to the risk of sunburn (although I do ensure I always have sunlotion in the car for such times). In terms of dodgy people taking photo's I would keep an eye out but I am not going to let them ruin my dd innocent fun by not letting her be a child.

I don't see a problem with knickers... at least they are "covered"

Just a bit confused by the sentence in bold... How does being protective and not letting a child be completely naked ruin "their" innocence and stop them being a child?

totally agree...also agree on being concerned about their skin...also can't stand mothers posting naked pictures of their children on facebook. I know i'm overprotective and there are things that are completely out of my control but I don't see the reason to give anyone any advantage in the sake of my children!

But surely protecting innocent children is everyones problem? Or is that just me?

I think people go overboard to be honest, if the kids have suncream on and are safe from the sun you can't just worry that peados are all around constantly, meant to be on the beach having a nice time not worrying, if your kid ain't burning and you don't let him/her out of your sight for even a millisecond then I don't see the problem. A Bathing costume ain't gonna stop a sicko being a sicko

DS is 4 and I have no problem with him running around in the nude. He wears a UV costume at the beach but when it is time to go home he takes everything off and goes to rinse himelf in the sea. Most children love to be naked and DS would spend all day naked if he could. I do limit the amount of time because of the sun but I am not going to spoil my childs fun because there may or may not be a dogy person watching him.

I think people go overboard to be honest, if the kids have suncream on and are safe from the sun you can't just worry that peados are all around constantly, meant to be on the beach having a nice time not worrying, if your kid ain't burning and you don't let him/her out of your sight for even a millisecond then I don't see the problem. A Bathing costume ain't gonna stop a sicko being a sicko

May be it is the childminder in me, risk assessing everything and trying to minimise the risks of getting burned, lost, hurt or anything else for that matter.

I don't think anyone can be too over protective when it comes to sick people. Just because I am aware of it, doesn't affect my children in the slightest I am just vigilant and don't give them kind of people the opportunity to take inappropriate photos... Fair enough, they can take photos regardless, but at least I know they are not rude IYSWIM.

I remember a thread not so long ago about a lady at a Jubilee thing and was searching the net for photos and found a random photo of her daughter, taken by a stranger. It was totally innocent and just capturing the moment, but still took her aback.

I couldn't take photos of MY children at the beach, playing in the sand, because of all the other naked children. I mean how would it have looked if I took a photo of MY child and put it on FB for my family to see and in the background other children in all their glory?

Not keen on those "all in one" swimsuit things either I saw a couple of children on our recent holiday abroad, and it looked like they were wearing PJs!

It could be that they had a skin condition or something that required them to wear all in one protection.

But, I think a bit of sun to a child's body is good!! Besides, those children must've been horribly warm, and swimsuits don't dry that quickly after being in water, so to have an "all in one" damp on your body must've been very uncomfortable.

"Come on hubby, sun cream time. Close your eyes so I can get your face, put your head down so I can get your neck!" He was laughing at me saying Yes Mummy lol

Haha, when my kids were little I'd be crazy with the suncream. I'd squeeze LOADS over my hands so they were thick with cream and all white, then I'd put big suncream hand prints on my kids tummies before I rubbed it all in. They thought it was hilarious.

TBH I think you're totally over the top and in the wrong (but then, we're a family of naturists). As others have said, a swimming costume isn't going to stop a paedophile from getting their kicks, and as long as the children have sun protection on, it's not a problem. Be wary of the full UV protections suits, as there are increasing numbers of children who do not have enough vitamin D (from sunlight primarily) which is resulting in other vitamin deficiencies (from memory, I think it's vit C that needs D to help process it, but I can't remember).

Also, there are loads of benefits of being naked, and allowing children the freedom of being naked and seeing adults naked (ie that it is NOT shameful to be naked). See British Naturism: Homepage for more info.